


Things Will Work Themselves Out

by sakchitoots



Series: Things Work Out In The End [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also eventually, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Black Paladin Allura, Galra Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Has Two Moms, Lance (Voltron) is So Done, Lesbian Allura (Voltron), Lesbian Romelle (Voltron), Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Pining Keith (Voltron), White Paladin Lance, blue paladin romelle, clone shiro - Freeform, eventually, hgfjd sorry keith, lance pulls a keith and fucks off for a while, oriande is conveniently bi colored just for lance, pining romelle, romelle is a mess, shiros like a major asshole but hes a clone so, white lion is KITTY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-06 21:52:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16395773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakchitoots/pseuds/sakchitoots
Summary: Lance scowled out at the view as he walked. “Stupid white hole. Stupid guardian.”His blue eyes widened as his reflection faintly started pulsing light, before everything went dark.(Lance would later look back on this and laugh. Famous last words, right?)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set during late s5 and pretty much everything is the same until halfway through ep6, then things obviously change as it finishes & goes into s6 of this story line.
> 
> Huge thanks to my beta Mj because I'm a total mess and this would be trash without their help!
> 
> Anyway, please excuse this for being trash, it's my first fic I've written in a while & the first multi-chapter thing I've done for Voltron.
> 
> Art for this chapter: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/post/179504529630/2-scenes-from-my-fic-things-will-work-themselves

So, Oriande was a total bust, Lance had decided.

After getting the absolute shit beaten out of them by the Guardian, Lotor had went on about ‘The marks of the chosen’ and how only He and Allura were able to enter. Yeah. So much for that. They hadn’t even been able to enter the white hole before the guardian had decided it didn't like them, let alone pass through to Oriande.

Lance was finally on his way to his room for the night, after briefly comforting Allura, who was obviously very upset about the failed attempt, when he allowed himself to rest against a wall and breathe for a moment, before continuing the walk to his room.

Moments of rest had been few and far between for the past few weeks, Paladin duties and extra training with Allura having been constantly on Lance’s back, as well the added bonus of avoiding as much interaction with Shiro as possible, which quite frankly, was exhausting.

Just as the boy was outside his door, Coran’s voice rung out over the castles speaker, much to his annoyance.

“Paladins! Please report to the main hangar, we have a guest arriving!” The older Altean sang. Lance could almost imagine him twirling his moustache as he spoke.

“A guest. Of fucking course.” The red paladin groaned to himself, lightly thumping his helmeted head on his door. “How do we even _get_ guests? We live on a fucking spaceship!”

The boy turned away from his room, hesitating as he stared longingly back at it, mentally cursing whoever had the audacity to show up right as he was about to retire for the night.

“Come on,” He encouraged himself, dragging his feet as he made his way into a hall harbouring a huge window which allowed a good view into the surroundings of the castle (space, usually) that he liked to sit by when he couldn’t find sleep. Lance was pointedly ignoring the fact that his midnight trips to the window had been becoming more frequent as of late.

Lance scowled out at the view as he walked. “Stupid white hole. Stupid guardian.”

His cobalt eyes widened as his reflection faintly started pulsing light, before everything went dark.

(Lance would later look back on this and laugh. Famous last words, right?)

 

* * *

 

Lance jerked awake, sucking in a breath and choking as he took in his surroundings.

He had awoken on rocky and barren ground with pink grass and violet hued trees scarcely scattered around him, thickening into a forest in the distance. Beyond the forest, a mountain loomed, blue clouds threatening to consume it. The sky was a pretty pink, and dusted everything in warm lighting, creating a serene atmosphere.

Despite this ‘calm atmosphere’, Lance in fact, was not calm.

“What the fuck. What the _fuck_ ,” Lance whisper-shouted to himself, getting to his feet. “Guys? Are you there?” Lance asked, fixing his slightly lopsided helmet to sit straight, his frown deepening as he was met with only static.

“Okay, okay. What would Shiro do?” Lance mumbled to himself, turning a full circle to look around properly. “He would…” the red paladins words trailed off as he locked eyes with a glowing white figure sitting a safe distance away, who was _definitely_ not there before.

“A.. lion..?”

Said lion stood and turned away from the boy maintaining eye contact before flicking its tail confidentially and trotting forward towards the violet forest.

“Shiro would definitely _not_ follow the glowing lion,” Lance frowned. “Oh well. Shiro's an ass anyway. Lead the way,” he grumbled, gesturing sarcastically with his arms, but starting after the lion anyway.

 

* * *

 

The forest was fairly simple to walk through, with a soft carpet of pink covering a fairly flat and smooth path that cut through the trees. The White Lion had faded into nothing quite a while ago, and after a minute of confusion and calling out to them, Lance had simply just decided to continue on the path the Lion had been leading him on.

There was a distinct lack of wildlife that was vaguely concerning to him in the back of his mind, but the Cuban had decided to ignore it, in favour of deciding he was having some weird dream induced by fever from when he collapsed in the hall. Although he did remember hearing somewhere that if a person was aware they could control what would happen, and that was sort of the opposite of what was happening at the moment.

After an (incredibly boring) hour or so, the amount of trees tightly packed together started to decrease and much to the Red Paladin’s displeasure, he came to the conclusion that he was at the foot of the mountain.

Lance jolted as something nudged his back, but calmed when he realised it was the Lion.

“There is no way I’m climbing that,” Lance crossed his arms and looked away from the lion pointedly. “No way.”

This was not what the Lion wanted to hear, apparently, as they simply growled and shoved their head between Lances legs from behind, forcing the boy onto their back before padding smugly over to a nice looking path that would take them both up the mountain easily enough.

“Ooookay. I stand corrected,” Lance breathed, placing a gloved palm flat on their large head, his fingers tangling through the thick fur. “Why are you so insistent that I go up there?” The red paladin tilted his head curiously.

The White Lion simply shrugged their shoulders, almost knocking the unsuspecting Lance off their back.

 

* * *

 

“Keith, it's good to see you,” Shiro said, clearly shocked at his Keith’s taller build and galra markings.

“Shiro, we need to stop Lotor. He’s been lying to all of us!” Keith ordered, not bothering with a greeting.

“Lying to us? About what?” Pidge questioned, stepping towards the raven haired boy while the others made sounds of confusion.

“Everything!” A girl snapped, stepping forward until she was to the right of Keith. She had fair skin and light hair, tied in two long ponytails that cascaded down her back. Two blue scales sat underneath her eyes, drawing everyone's attention.

“You’re.. Altean!” Allura gasped, moving slightly toward the other girl.

“This is Romelle,” Keith said, guesting toward the Altean, “and this is Krolia.” Keith smiled slightly at the Galran woman who had moved to stand on the other side of the boy. “We’ll explain everything soon.. Where’s Lance?”

Shiro looked around the room, visibly irritated. “Coran called us all down to the bridge, I don’t know what’s taking him so long. What’s the story about Lotor lying to us? We’ll fill Lance in when he gets here.”

Romelle explained the story about how Lotor saved the Alteans and the state she found her brother in when Keith and Krolia arrived. About how Lotor harvested innocent Alteans for quintessence and how her entire family was dead because of him.

“All this time...” Allura whispered, “I can’t believe he fooled us.. Fooled me..” She smiled weakly at Hunk, who had placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“He’s a monster and we need to stop him. Where is he?” Keith asked, once again looking around the hangar, as if Lotor would jump out and attack at any moment.

“And where the fuck is Lance?” Pidge butted in, annoyed.

 “Lotor went out shortly after we got back to the castle. He was trying to find an alternative way to enter the quintessence field. He should be arriving back here in a varga or so.” Allura informed, a determined look on her face. “We can all head to the control room and wait for him to arrive, then ambush him. I’ll call Lance over the castle’s speakers again while we’re there, too.”

 

* * *

 

“It’s been 10 dobashes and Lance still isn’t here.” Keith growled. “We need to be ready for Lotor to come back. Where <i>is</i> he?”

 “Maybe he just slept through the Allura and Coran’s broadcasts over the speakers? He seemed pretty exhausted after everything that happened with the Castle today.” Pidge adjusted her glasses.

“No, Lance never sleeps through those. Hold on, I’m going to do a castle-wide scan for his quintessence, it's possible he wandered down into the lower levels of the ship and got lost. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Allura frowned as she brought up a hologram and started typing.

Amused, Krolia mumbled into Keith’s pointed ear, “Lance is the one you want to court, correct?” Which gained her a sharp elbow in the gut from her son, though his red cheeks gave away his response.

 “Lance.. Isn’t in the Castle.” Allura said suddenly, her eyebrows furrowing.

 “Can’t we just contact him through Red?” Hunk inquired, visibly confused.

“Yes, if Lance was _in_ the Red Lion. The castle notifies me each time a Lion leaves it’s hangar, and I haven’t received any notifications which means Lance and Red haven’t gone anyway. Besides, the Lions are still charging after being forced to disband from Voltron today.”

 “No escape pods have been taken either, Princess.” Coran tuned in, looking over his own hologram.

“What? He _must_ be in the castle. Where would he even go?” Hunk spoke again, sharing a look of worry with Keith.

“I’ll scan for him again. Pidge, could you look through the security cameras to see if you can locate him?” Allura tapped at her hologram again for a moment before shaking her head.

“I can’t see him anywhere, guys. It’s like he’s disappeared.”

Right as Keith opened his mouth to say something that would probably reveal his crush on Lance (that everyone was already painfully aware of), The Castle screen started beeping.

“Lotor is back,” Shiro announced solemnly, squaring his shoulders. “Get ready.”

 

* * *

 

“What is this place?” Lance breathed, gazing up at the temple at the summit of the mountain, shuffling forwards when the Lion nudged him towards it.

The temple looked similar to an Egyptian pyramid, being made entirely of stone, but had symbols with blue light glowing from them littered all over the structure. The patterns, in a way, reminded him of how the Castle Of Lions looked from the outside. The temple had a large opening in between two columns with pointed tops in the front of the temple. All Lance could see inside the temple was stairs.

The Lion flicked Lance with their tail and calmly padded through the opening and started up the stairs, the Red Paladin following a few metres behind.

“Wow,” Lance murmured to himself, eyes trailing over the markings carved into the walls. He reached his hand out to touch but ultimately decided against it, briefly remembering what happened the last time he touched strange looking markings.

Continuing up the stairs, the two came across a stone door, which the White Lion placed their paw against for a moment, then moving away when the door lifted up and opened.

The Cuban gasped as he stepped inside, pulling his helmet off his head. “Alteans?”

He and the Lion had arrived in a long hall, with five large Altean statues made from stone, sitting in throne-like chairs on both sides of the hall.

“I-Where _are_ we?” Lance looked over at White, who was continuing down the hall. He quickly ran after the lion, not wanting to be left behind. Suddenly, the White Lion faded to nothing and Lance was left alone with the Altean Statues.

The boy gasped and spun around as something began to crumble and crack behind him, choking on his breath as he realised the huge Altean Statues were coming to life. Fear consumed the Paladin as one of them brought their giant foot down on him, trying to crush him.

Lance scrambled away, running as fast as he could towards the door on the far end of the hall where the White Lion had been headed before they disappeared.

The boy cried out as he tripped on a large crack in the stone floor, hurrying to stand again before turning his back away and hugging himself as the statue closest to him brought their spear down on Lance. He clenched his jaw, preparing for the blow.

It never came.

The red paladin opened his eyes and unclenched his jaw, turning to see the statue standing upright, looking down at him. Looking around, the boy realised the other nine Alteans circled around him, doing the same.

“Paladin of Voltron,” A statue with short light hair started. “You were brought here for a reason. You are a sacred Altean, one worthy of the powers of the White Lion.”

“I’m.. what?” Lance started. “You- You must have this wrong, I’m not- I’m not Altean.” He laughed nervously.

“You do not remember,” Another statue stated, this one had dark hair cascading down their back.

“..Remember what.. Exactly?” Lance asked, confused out of his mind.

“Paladin Lance. You have forgotten yourself. You must stay here and find yourself once again.”

“You're not answering my questions!” The boy grew frustrated. “Where is ‘here’?! Who are you?! What don’t I remember?!” He shouted, looking at the statues.

“Calm yourself, small one. We are the Sages Of Oriande. The first ever sacred Alteans, the first to unlock the secrets of Altean Magic.” A statue with no hair at all answered the boy.

“Oriande? But-” Lance was cut off by the stature bringing a giant finger to his lips.

“Red Paladin, you are troubled about where you stand on your team, stuck in a constant state of confusion. You are upset and lonely.” The original white haired statue observed. “The White Lion, the guardian of Oriande, saw this, so they allowed you to enter. You will learn where you stand with your team here, Lance, and so much more. When you feel whole again, the White Lion will know, and they will bring good to you.”

“I’m so confused..” Moaned Lance, rubbing his face as he spoke. “So you’re trying to tell me that I’m Altean, and this is Oriande, the place Allura and Lotor were trying to enter just today, and you rejected them to choose me instead, because I'm lonely.’”

“See yourself, boy.” a sharp faced statue behind Lance spoke, holding his hand up as if asking for a high five. A water-like substance swirled in his palm before stilling and showing Lance his reflection.

 

“Holy fucking _shit_.” The helmet Lance had been holding since he removed it clattered to the ground.

Lance had long pointed ears and two snow white scales sitting beneath his eyes, which seemed to be more brightly colored than before.

“How.. exactly _am_ I Altean?” He asked, looking at the statues while rubbing one of the scales.

“Do not worry, child.” The white haired statue said, turning away and walking towards their throne, the others doing the same. “You will remember soon enough.”

 

* * *

 

“Um, Hello, Princess.. Allura was it?” Romelle scratched her neck before gently tapping Allura on the shoulder, who was staring out the window of the Observation deck.

“Oh, yes. Just Allura is fine, Romelle..?” Allura smiled weakly, moving over so the other girl could sit if she liked.

“Yes, Romelle. Um, are you okay? You seemed a little distraught- er you obviously don't have to tell me anything if you do not wish to, but i just thought you might like to talk to someone.. Yeah.” Romelle rambled, blushing slightly as she sat.

“Thank you for your concern Romelle. I just.. I really thought Lotor was different, but he turned out to be kind of a psychopath.” Allura sighed, turning to look at Romelle. “I suppose I was blinded by his Altean heritage.” 

“I’m sorry you had to go so long believing you and your Adviser were the last two Alteans alive. Were you and Lotor.. Y’know..” Romelle tapped her index fingers together, looking away awkwardly.

“Together? Oh no- I’m only interested in women.” Allura smiled weakly, red dusting her cheeks slightly.

“Oh- yeah. Me too.” Romelle scratched her face awkwardly. 

Allura sighed. “You haven’t met him, but Lance, our Red Paladin, has literally vanished. There’s no trace of him anywhere. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way he would have just left the team, he’s loyal.”

“Yes, Keith mentioned a Lance quite a few times. Your team must really like him, if he’s as great as Keith is making him out to be.” Allura choked on her spit, coughing as Romelle continued on. “I don’t know what could have happened, Allura. But things will work themselves out, I’m certain of it.” She placed a gentle hand on the princess’s shoulder with a warm smile.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team adjust to Lance's disappearance & Lance learns about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being really slow with this chapter- I got sick and was super busy during the weeks I was writing it.
> 
> Huge thanks to my beta Mj who is a t o t a l lifesaver fjdkd
> 
> I'll have art for this chapter out soon- i just really wanted to post this, so stay tuned!
> 
> EDIT: Heres the art for this chapter: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/post/180234928455/some-beautiful-altean-lesbians-from-my-klance

Keith knocked on Shiro’s door, silently going over what he needed to say in his head.  
  
“Come in,” Shiro called from inside his room. The Galran took a deep breath and entered the room.  
  
“Keith, what’s up?” The Black Paladin answered, standing up and facing the boy.  
  
“Shiro,” Keith started. “I’m not piloting Red while Lance doesn't know about it. I don't feel comfortable with it.”  
  
Shiro sighed. “I know you're hurting about Lance. We all are. But you know he would want us to move on.”  
  
Keith frowned, growing irritated. “Stop talking about him like he’s dead!”  
  
“It’s been a month, Keith. There’s no traces of him leaving anywhere.” Shrio sighed, frowning.  
  
“He cou-”  
  
“Keith.” Shiro raised his voice slightly. “You have to move on. Red needs you to pilot him. The team needs you to pilot him.”  
  
“Move on? Shiro you know how I feel about him. I didn’t see him for two years and I’m still head over heels, you can’t just ask me to let him go and move on when i know he’s alive.” Keith snapped, stepping forward, balling his fists.  
  
Shiro sighed again, rubbing his face. “Lance wouldn’t have been piloting red if you were here, anyway. You need to do this. It’s non negotiable. This conversation is over.”  
  
Keith’s brows furrowed, “Wait, what? What do you mean he wouldn’t have been-”  
  
“This conversation is over, Keith. Get out.” Keith glared at Shiro and stomped out of the room, teeth clenched.

 

* * *

  
  
So, Oriande was _not_ a total bust, Lance had decided.  
  
Lance had actually learnt quite a lot about Altean Alchemy, and had formed quite a good bond with the White Lion. (It wasn’t like he had anyone else to properly be around, but he found he didn’t mind.)  
  
Although he had learnt quite a lot about the history of Altea, he still didn’t know how exactly he was Altean in the first place. The Sages of Oriande had told him that he would ‘remember’ soon enough, but Lance was growing bored and impatient, and he honestly just wanted to go back to his team.  
  
The White Lion, whom he’d affectionately dubbed as ‘White’, had told him that the team had enough pilots in a similar way Blue and Red used to speak to him. The boy hoped that having a pilot for each lion meant Keith had returned from the Blade Of Marmora, hopefully in one piece, to pilot Red.  
  
“Nice catch, buddy!” The boy complimented, clumsily climbing down the trunk of the tree to give White a pat on the shoulder. (usually he preferred to pat things on the head, but White stood a good 3 feet taller than him, and it ended up awkwardly the first time he attempted to reach their head.)  
  
“White!” Lance called from the dark blue branches of a tree in the forest below the mountain and Temple. “Catch this!” He tossed a bright blue citrus smelling fruit, which in a spur of inspiration and creativity, he had called ‘a blue’, toward where White was standing below the tree, a small pile of blues at their feet.  
  
“Great,” Lance sighed, “fruit for dinner again. I’m seriously dying for something salty.. Though I would take blues and orangeberries over the Castles goo any-day.” Laughing softly, he packed the blues into a (badly) homemade satchel hooked around the White Lion’s neck before closing it and setting back through the forest.  
  
“I still can’t believe we have to go up and down this fucking mountain every other day to get food. Its a mountain!” The paladin grumbled as White chortled lightly at their friend’s annoyance.

 

* * *

 

  
“Allura, Shiro mentioned something about Lance not piloting a Lion- do you have any idea what he meant by that?” Keith jogged after the princess as she exited the kitchen.  
  
“I’m not sure I recall Shiro mentioning anything.” Allura thought, turning to face the boy, “though there seemed to be a lot of tension and conflict between he and Lance, before.”  
  
“Why? Did something happen?”  
  
“I dont know… We all just assumed that Shiro was still recovering from when he went missing, but later on it seemed he was targeting Lance specifically. I don’t know Keith, I’m sorry.” Allura rubbed the back of her neck, smiling sadly at the boy.  
  
“No, it’s okay. A lot has happened while I’ve been gone and I’m still learning about everything that happened and what the fuck went down with Shiro and Lance.” Keith laughed awkwardly.  
  
“I know it must be difficult for you, Keith. You were gone for 2 decaphoebs and when you came back he was gone.” Keith blushed, but nodded anyway wondering how the fuck she even knew about his feelings for Lance. “We’ll find him, don’t worry.”  
  
“I hope so.” The boy nodded to the Altean as they parted ways, rubbing his face with a sigh.  
  
“I entered co-ordinates into an escape pod for you. There’s a movement’s worth of rations packed.” The woman yelled at him, pushing him in the direction of the escape pods. “Come on, boy. Quickly, before they send backups.”  
  
The Altean child gulped and nodded, before turning and sprinting in the direction of the hangar with the woman. Their escape from the Second Colony had been planned for pheobs. Him and his cell-mates, five fairly young Alteans, had been taken to the pods for their quintessence draining of the movement, and they had finally been able to go through with their plan after being assigned one less guard than usual.  
  
They had managed to incapacitate their guards and sneak through the ship, taking down sentries on their way, though not without casualties. The child and woman were the only remaining survivors.    
  
They entered the hangar, spotting the escape pod and jogging towards it. The older Altean lifted the boy into the pod after opening it, before swinging herself in. The woman was eternally thankful was eternally thankful she was a pilot before she had been chosen to go to the ‘second colony’. She quickly changed the language from Galran to Altean and started the Launch sequence. “Go sit in the cargo hold,” she told the child, who nodded and quickly scurried out of the cockpit. She entered co-ordinates into the system and breathed out a relieved sigh as the ship breached the atmosphere.

 

* * *

 

  
  
Lance jolted awake, gulping in air as he tried to process what he just saw.  
  
“What the fuck.” the boy breathed, cautiously resting his head back down on White’s flank, pressing a hand to their shoulder as they crooned and curled around him in a comforting manner.  
  
“The-That was Paige. That was me.” Lance turned to look at White. “She was Altean? Is- wha- are we related?”  
  
Paige was the McClain family’s longtime next-door neighbour and family friend who had practically been part of the family as long as Lance could remember.  
  
White gently prodded at the Red Paladin’s mind, telling him ‘no’, they weren’t related.  
  
Lance thought for a moment. “Oh my god. The Altean colony. Lotor. White I have to go back to my team, they need to know before Lotor does something.”  
  
_Relax, small one. Your friends are safe. Your time here is not over yet._  
  
“..Are you sure? They’re okay?” the boy cupped the Lion’s face, weaving his fingers through the thick, snowy fur. White purred and nuzzled into his hands as a response.  


* * *

 

 

  
Honestly it was only a matter of time before they ran into a rouge Galra fleet and needed all five lions.  
  
Team Voltron had been distracted by Lance and the whereabouts of the Altean colony, and had let their guard down. They were already vastly outnumbered by the time all the current paladins were in their lions and on the front lines, and the firepower of only four lions wasn’t going to be enough to win, this time around.

  
“ _KEITH_ !” Pidge roared, red in the face as her lion got hit by a Galra cruiser’s fire. “Pilot the _fucking_ Lion.” the girl narrowly dodged another lazer. “NOW!”  
  
“Pidge! Langu-FUCK!” Hunk cried, sending Yellow into a barrel roll to dodge the fire of the ion canon. “Keith. Pidge is right, we really _do_ need you out here.”  
  
Keith screwed his eyes shut and breathed in, before exhaling and looking up at the Red Lion. “They’re right.”  
  
He sighed, pulling on his helmet. “I’m sorry Lance.”  
  
Red’s particle barrier fell.  
  
Lance really was gone.  


* * *

 

  
  
“So my parents, my real ones, they were Altean?” Lance asked, absently twirling a small ball of light around his fingers, the light fading as lance focused on the image of two beautiful Altean women White fed into his brain instead of summoning his magic.  
  
The first woman had caramel skin, much like his, and white crescent moons on her cheeks. Her white hair was cut into a pixie cut and curled nicely around her face.  
  
The second woman stood slightly taller, with darker skin than the first woman. Her brunette hair sat neatly at her shoulders in a pretty bob. Two blue markings sat underneath her eyes of the same color, bringing out their rich tone.  
  


He hummed, smiling slightly. “I look a lot like them. Are they still alive? Or were they sent to the second colony, too.” He was disappointed by the Lion’s answer, but not really surprised. He expected nothing else from Lotor, anyway.  


* * *

 

  
  
  
“Keith?” Krolia called, entering the Observation deck. “Are you in here?”  
  
“Hey Mom,” Keith sent a small smile towards the woman as she walked through the room and sat down next to her son, who was staring through the glass into space.  
  
“Are you okay? I know you really didn’t want to pilot the Red Lion.” Krolia asked after a while.  
  
The boy sighed. “Yeah… I just- I really thought we’d find him but… I don’t know. I guess piloting Red felt like I was giving up on him.”  
  
“Are you?”  
  
“I don’t know… I love him, Mom. I really do, but it’s been months now. I think I have to get used to the reality that he probably won’t come back. Ever.” Keith frowned, looking at the ground as he blinked tears from his eyes.  
  
Krolia tentatively wrapped an arm around her son, turning to hug him properly when he didn’t pull away. “It’ll be okay, Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALSO! I have no clue what I should name Lance's moms- I'd appreciate it if you guys could comment some suggestions! 
> 
> My Tumblr: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/
> 
> Mj's Tumblr: https://sugar-spice-and-witches.tumblr.com/


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAA SORRY FOR THE WAIT BUT ITS FINALLY HEREEEEEEEE! This chapter is pretty much completely fluff so i hope you enjoy! As usual, a huge thanks to my lovely beta Mj- this wouldn't be half as good without their help. You can find her and our links in the end notes.
> 
> Thanks for sticking around guys! Iv'e got a few ideas for continuations for the series so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks for the nice comments and support :-)
> 
> Art for this chapter: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/post/180610460535/two-scenes-from-the-last-chapter-of-my-fic-things

Keith was majorly pissed off and Shiro was an asshole.  
  
The Paladins had been on the training deck going through group exercises and Keith had been particularly distracted, having gotten a shitty ass night of sleep, and Shiro being Shiro, picked up on this instantly and he had the audacity to blame it on Lance’s disappearance.  
  
Keith had yelled something about having gotten over his stupid crush (which in reality, he had very much _not_ gotten over) and left the deck in a fit of rage, heading to his room to have a shower and gather his fucking shit.  
  
Honestly, everyone on the ship’s relationships with each other were heading south. It wasn’t like they hated each other, Keith would still go through hell and back for each of them, but there was just so much unresolved tension between all of them and no one to lighten the mood, causing them to constantly argue and snap at each other.  
  
Unsurprisingly, Keith’s train of thought went back to Lance, as it often did. Lance had been the one to lighten the mood, to be the butt of jokes, and they didn't have that anymore. He had been trying to hold on to the tiny flicker hope that the Cuban boy may actually return to him and the team, but with every second that went by, it seemed less and less likely.

 

The boy flopped face first onto his bed, groaning at the feeling of finally settling down to relax, when the castle alarms started blaring, the noise ringing through his head and banging on his skull.

 

Keith screamed into his pillow in a annoyance before getting out of bed and aggressively shoving on his red paladin armor.

 

* * *

 

Shiro’s eyes were glowing purple as he stared through Lance.

 

“Shiro?” Lance murmured, reaching a hand out to touch. He gasped in shock as someone walked _through_ him to stand in front of the Black Paladin. They were tall and skinny and was wearing a long cape with a hood pulled up and over their face. Their snowy white hair was wispy and swirled in the air almost gracefully as they started to walk.

 

“Your job,” The person started, circling the man who continued to stare blankly ahead, “Is to infiltrate the Castle of Lions and interpret their Leader. Your name is Takashi Shirogane and you are the pilot of the Black Lion of Voltron.”

 

“Yes,” Shiro responded, his voice emotionless.

 

“Good,” the person pulled down their hood and smirked, their yellow eyes glowing menacingly. They turned to a pair of Galra sentires. “Take it away.”

 

Lance gasped and stumbled back as the person turned and seemed to stare right at him. “That’s the witch Haggar!”

 

* * *

 

Lance sucked in a breath, jolting awake. “White,” he gasped, “Shiro’s a clone. The team doesn’t know.. I need to- I have to get back.. I need to protect them and take out the clone.”

 

White silently stood, beckoning with their tail to follow.

 

They soon arrived at a door in the temple Lance had seen many times.

 

_Place your hand on the door. Channel your love for your friends_

 

“Okay..” Lance whispered, and gently laid his hand flat on the door.

 

He thought of Yellow, who was kind and compassionate, who would drop everything to help him. Warm, comforting whispers, lolling him to sleep when Lance was plagued with nightmares and homesickness. His closest friend.

 

He thought of Green, who was intelligent and too curious for her own good, who would sit with him and listen to tales of his childhood with his family. Green had started out cold, but had grown warm and grown to love him. His sister.

 

He thought of Pink, who was powerful and confident, who was strong-headed and wise. She would stay with him and watch the stars, telling him about soldiers and servants she used to know. She comforted him and taught him how to be a better person. His leader.

 

He thought of Red, fiery, passionate, caring, beautiful red, who would always have his back, who he could trust with his life. Red, who he would travel across the universe to find. Red who depended on Lance just as much as Lance depended on him. His love.

 

The Altean gasped and pulled his hand back as the door slowly opened.

 

“Oh my god.,” A lion, one with the same build as Red and Green but smaller, was sat underneath a beam of light, coming from a large opening in the ceiling. It’s coat of paint was flawless, the white paint showing no signs of ware.

 

White crooned, resting their head on his.

 

_It’s time for you to leave, my Paladin._

 

Lance frowned. “What about you?”

 

_I will still be with you, I promise. Now go, your family is in trouble._

 

The boy set his jaw, straightened his back and walked forward confidently. White disappeared from his side, and a moment later, the big white lion dipped it’s head down to where Lance was stood and opened it’s mouth.

 

“Very nice..” Lance hummed, examining the white suit of paladin armor hanging on the wall of the cockpit, before removing his blue armor and pulling on the white suit in it’s place.

 

He sat himself in the chair and pulled on his helmet, gripping the joysticks. “Lets get outta here, buddy.”

 

* * *

 

“Shit!” Keith gasped, slamming into Shiro’s lion after a failed attempt at dodging a laser flying at him. “There’s too many of them and we can't form Voltron! What’re we going to do?!”  
  
“We can hold out and win this, we just need to focus!” Shiro snapped, shoving Red away from Black and zooming into the frontlines of the battle.  
  
They weren’t doing too badly, but there were so many large battle-cruisers that they wouldn’t be able to take out without Voltron or backup- none of which were an option since the nearest group of rebels were 3 days travel away and they were unable to form Voltron due to the negativity running between the paladins.

  
“No we _can’t_ , Shiro! The Galra have more fleets coming to replace the old ones and we can’t take out the battle-cruisers without taking out all the fighters and we can’t get rid of all the fighters without getting rid of the battle-cruisers!” Allura shouted, desperation evident in her voice.  
  
“Pidge, are you sure there’s no Blades or Rebels close enough to get here?” Hunk asked for the third time.  
  
“Yes, Hunk.”  
  
Keith yelled, slamming his fists down on his dashboard in frustration “But we don’t have another choice! We can’t do this on our own-”  
  
The red paladin was cut off as a powerful roar blasted through their radios, a white blur zooming towards the battle-cruisers that Shiro was unsuccessfully trying to take out on his own.  
  
“What _is_ that?!” The yellow paladin yelled, slamming his Lion into a small fighter ship to blow it up.  
  
“I don’t know, but it’s helping us! Lets take out the rest of the fighters! Shiro, you focus on finishing up those battle cruisers.  
  
After taking a few more hard hits and a lot more shouting and cursing, the fight was finally won by the Paladins. “Good job Paladins! Romelle and I will prepare a nice meal for you.”  
  
“Is that a Lion?!” Shiro suddenly gasped as he looked out of his window after the Coran disconnected his coms, prompting the other paladins to turn to the foreign ship.  
  
“Oh my goodness..” Allura murmured. “That’s the sixth Lion!”  
  
“There’s a sixth Lion?! You didn’t think to tell us that when we had the one-paladin-too-many issue?!” Keith snapped, irritated.  
  
“The Lion was built in Oriande. Whoever is piloting that Lion is a sacred Altean,” Allura explained, before hailing the White Lion. “This is Princess Allura, Blue Paladin of Voltron. Please join us on the Castle of Lions for a feast to thank you for assisting us in this battle.” 

 

* * *

 

Lance exhaled, his hands shaking as he walked out of White’s mouth. The manifestation of White appeared next to him, attempting to comfort him by knocking their head gently into the side of Lance’s helmet.

 

“Incredible! That’s one of the Guardians of Oriande! I am Princess Allura, I’m honoured to meet you.” Allura stepped forward when White made no move to attack her and held out her hand for Lance to shake.  
  
Lance stared at her hand for a moment before shakily lifting his hands to his helmet and gently pulling it off.  
  
Allura’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening as they made eye contact.  
  
“Allura?” Pidge questioned at her silence, her and the Paladins being positioned too far back to have a view of Lance’s face.  
  
The Princesses eyes welled with tears, and she let them fall, sucking in a breath before falling forward into his arms. “Lance.”  


“What?”

  
“ _Lance_?!”

 

“Oh my god”  
  
Lance could barely distinguish the voices of his friends over his beating heart. He gently pushed Allura off him and let the rest of the team see him in his full Altean glory. “Hi,” Lance laughed awkwardly after a moment of shocked silence. “It’s been a while.”  
  
The White Paladin barely got a moment to process as Pidge and Hunk crashed into him, tackling him to the ground, causing White to let out a warning growl. The two paladins quickly let go of Lance and scrambled away.  
  
“Don’t worry about White, they’re just really protective.” Lance laughed as he leaned his face into the Lion's fur and whispered quiet praises in Spanish, before stepping forward and opening his arms, letting the engineers embrace him again.  
  
“Where the fuck did you go you- you little bitch?!” Pidge cried out, her voice muffled by Lance’s chest. “I would very much like to know that too. You disappeared out of nowhere!”  
  
“Ha, yeah… sorry about that, by the way.”  
  
“You went to Oriande. That’s incredible!” Allura gasped, patting Lance on the back as he was released from the embrace.

 

“You’re not upset? I know how much you wanted to go…”

 

“Of course not, Lance. I’m thrilled that you got to experience it’s beauties.” The princess squeezed his shoulder.  


“Close your mouth, Keith,” Pidge snickered, “you’ll catch flies.”

 

Lance turned to the Red Paladin, choking on his breath.

  
“Keith,” he breathed, blue eyes filling with fresh tears as he inspected the Red Paladin. Keith was more muscular, taller, hotter and much more purple than the last time Lance had seen him. “Wow.”  
  
“I- Lance...” The Red Paladin breathed shakily, his eyes dragging over Lance’s body, clearly checking him out. “You look different..”  
  
The Altean chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed his neck, his cheeks flushing. “So do you.”

 

“Okay, this is painful to watch. I can feel the sexual tension from all the way over here.” Pidge gagged. “Onto Shiro, please.”

 

“Lance. It’s good to see you,” Shiro smiled, stepping towards the Altean.

 

The White Paladin gasped and dropped into a defensive stance, activating his bayard into his broadsword. “Stay back! I know what you are,” he hissed. “Get him, White!”

 

The Lion instantly pounced on Shiro, knocking him to the ground, rolling him over and pressing his chest into the ground. The boy stepped forward and rested his palm on Shiro’s head and used a surge of magic to knock him out, ignoring the Black Paladin’s cry of protest.

 

“Lance!” Allura shrieked, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from Shiro. “What are you _doing_?!” Lance frowned, gently pulling his arms out of Allura’s grip and turning to where Keith was crouched over his brother. “You don’t know? This isn’t Shiro- it’s a clone made by Haggar.”

 

“...What.” Pidge said flatly.

 

“Paladins,” Lance started, stepping forwards to explain. “Back when we fought Zarkon- when Shiro went missing, he died and was sent to the astral plane. Then the clone came in his place like two weeks later. Think about it, guys. It makes sense. I can take you the the Astral Plane to prove it, Allura.”

 

“I- I don’t know Lance. Do the Galra have the technology to create clones?” Allura stepped away from the other Altean.

 

“They do.” a Galran woman said suddenly. Lance briefly wondered how she entered the hangar without him noticing, before dropping his stance defensively for the second time.

 

“Who are you?” He snapped, glaring.

 

“Relax Lance, that’s just Keith's galra mom.” Hunk piped in, slapping Lance on the back to straighten him up, causing Lance to choke on his spit.

 

“My name is Krolia, Keith’s mother. He has told me much about you,” Krolia smiled slightly. “But yes, Princess, the Galra do have that technology. A while ago one of the Blades was compromised and the Clone was sent back to the base as a spy. We were able to take it out quickly, of course.”

 

“I see,” Allura murmured. “Okay, fine. How do we do this, Lance?”

 

* * *

 

“Lance! Allura!” Shiro called, walking towards them and placing a hand on the boys shoulder.

 

“Shiro.. So it’s true.. The Shiro piloting the Black Lion is a clone?” Alluras brows furrowed.

 

The Black Paladin nodded, solemnly. “Yes.”

 

“We’ll get you back in your body, Shiro. As soon as possible. Come on Allura- this is draining my energy and I’m going to need it to get him back.” Lance gestured to the man, smiling slightly. “Yes, of course.” Allura exhaled. “We’ll see you soon, Shiro.”

 

* * *

 

“Urghh,” Lance groaned, leaning into White, who held his weight easily. “I forgot how exhausting that was.”

 

“Are you okay?!” Keith panicked, placing a caring hand on Lance’s shoulder, shaking him gently as the other paladins crowded around him and Allura.

 

“Yes,” Lance mumbled. “Just light headed. You good, Lura?”

 

The princess easily picked herself up and dusted off her armor. “I’m okay. You should lay down, though. I’ll take the clone and put him in the cryopods for the the time being.”

 

“Here, I’ll carry you to your room.” Hunk smiled gently, helping the boy up, glancing at Allura as she pulled Shiro’s clone over her shoulder and carried him away without so much as batting an eyelash.

 

“Actually Hunk, I’ll take Lance. Can you get him some food and water?” Keith asked, curling a hand around Lance’s bicep. Hunk nodded and hurried out of the hangar in the direction of the kitchen. “We’ll meet back in the lounge in a few hours and we can all catch up.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m glad you figured out what was wrong with Shiro.” Keith said suddenly, rousing Lance, who was shamelessly burying his face into keith's chest and breathing him in. The Altean pulled his head away and looked up at Keith. “Did you realise he was acting odd?”

 

Keith shrugged, jostling the boy slightly, earning a yelp in response. “Of course, I’ve known him for years. He was being a little bitch, which isn’t like him. Plus, I trust you, so…” Keith trailed off, his face flushing redder than it was before. “How’d you find out he was a clone?”

 

“Magical space visions. No biggy,” Lance responded without hesitation. At Keith’s confusion he continued, “I’ll explain later.”

 

They continued on in silence for a bit before arriving at Lances door. “You do know White could have carried me here, right?” The Altean asked, pressing his palm against the panel to the right of his door to open it.

 

“Your lion? Yeah, I know.” Keith entered the room, breathing in a lungful of old dusty air and coughing, before placing Lance down over the covers.

 

Said Lion appeared suddenly and bounced onto Lance’s bed, curling around him and nuzzling their nose into his hair. “White!” Lance yelped. “You don’t even fit on the bed!”

 

The lion let out a whine but picked themself up and climbed off the bed and curling up on the floor by Keith’s feet.

 

“So.. I like your new look.” The Altean blushed slightly, shamelessly checking Keith out.

 

“Heh, yeah. That happened while I was off with the Blade- a little while after I met my Mom.” Keith ducked his head, blushing.

 

“I’m glad you found her.”

 

The Red Paladin smiled. “Me too.”

 

“I missed you, you know.” Lance whispered, locking eyes with Keith.

 

Keith’s smile widened. “Me too.”

 

* * *

 

Shiro’s eyes flew open as he sucked in a breath. “Lance,” he murmured, his eyes focusing in on the boy above him. “You did it..”

 

Lance smiled warmly. “Of course I did.”

 

The Altean waited a moment for Shiro to lose consciousness before he turned to the team. “We should put him in a healing pod to keep an eye on his vitals and make sure the body doesn't reject him.”

 

Coran and Krolia nodded, each of them taking hold of his arms and legs and carrying the man out of the room.

 

Lance stood up and stretched his arms above his head, wobbling slightly.

 

“You okay?” Keith asked stepping towards Lance.

 

“Yeah,” Lance smiled placing a reassuring hand on Keith’s shoulder. “I just need a nap and some of Hunky-poos cooking and I’ll be right as rain.”

 

Conveniently, right as the Paladins and Romelle, who the White Paladin was ecstatic to meet a few days prior, started towards the Kitchen, the castle alarms went off.

 

“Well there goes that plan, Lance groaned, turning towards the big White Lion, who was moved to the main hangar with the other Lions recently.

 

“Uhh, _no_.” Allura stepped in front of the White Paladin. “You,” she gestured to Lance, “and you,” she gestured to Romelle, “Will go eat.”

 

“What? No way! I’m always in Blue with you when we face Galra fleets!” Romelle protested, stepping towards Allura.

 

Lance perked up. “Sure thing, Lura! Stay safe. Come on Romelle, let's go.” He grabbed the other Altean's arm and pulled her out of the hangar with him, ignoring her squawks of protest.

 

Hunk frowned. “I didn’t expect Lance to give in that easily.”

 

“He’s totally gonna interrogate Rommelle about her and Allura’s relationship.” Pidge snickered.

 

“Oh, definitely.” Hunk chuckled, tuning out Allura’s outraged spluttering and denial.

 

* * *

 

“For the last time we are not together!” Romelle cried, her face red. Lance opened his mouth with a smirk to respond but was cut off.

 

“Lance! Blue isn’t opening for me!” Allura shouted over the castle coms.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Her particle Barrier is up! She’s shut me out!”

 

“We’ll be there in a moment, don’t worry.” Lance looked at Romelle for a moment, worry evident on her face. “Romelle, come with me.”

 

“Where are we going?” Romelle gasped as she was pulled through the castle halls by Lance, who stayed silent racing through the halls to his room, with Romelle right behind him. He slammed his hand down on the lock panel and stumbled into the room, tripping over his feet. The white paladin ripped open the closet and pulled out a chest.

 

“Put this on,” He handed the chest to her, before grabbing pieces of his armor from the floor. “Meet me in the hangar.”

 

* * *

 

“Allura,” Lance started, walking up behind the princess. “I was in your place once. I think we both know what needs to happen, where you need to be.”

 

Allura sighed. “I know. But who’s going to pilot Blue?”

 

Lance smiled slightly. “Don't worry about that right now. It’s more important that you get out there and fight with your team.” White, who had materialized next to Lance, bumped their head into Allura’s back, prompting her forwards.

 

The princess frowned, but then nodded, “thank you, Lance.” She smiled, before running towards the Black Lion.

 

The White paladin stood and watched as the Black Lion bowed her head for Allura to enter, not a minute later they blasted out of the hangar.

 

“Lance? What is this?”

 

“Romelle!” Lance smiled at the girl in the blue paladin armor. “You look great! Now bond dammit, I gotta go help the team.” Lance pointed at Blue before winking at Romelle and running to his Lion as Little White disappeared.

 

* * *

 

“Good work Paladins!” Allura breathed, a dazzling smile lighting up her face. “I’m proud of you all. Let’s head back to the Castle and get some rest.”

 

“Roger that, Team Leader!” Romelle cheered, her cheeks slightly red with exertion.

 

“Careful Romelle, your gay is showing.” Lance snickered as he maneuvered White into their designated space in the hangar.

 

“Good.” Romelle replied flippantly through the coms from the other side of the hangar, walking at a steady pace towards the Black Lion, where Allura was waiting with open arms.

 

Lance smiled as he watched the two Alteans embrace from the other side of the hangar.

 

“Hey,” Keith pulled an arm around Lance’s shoulders. “You did good out there today.”

 

“Are we not going to talk about that awesome new ability you unlocked with Red today? If I did good then you did amazing,” The Altean smiled, pulling off his helmet and looking up at the Red Paladin who had a smirk on his face. “It was nothing.”

 

Lance snorted. “Whatever you say.”

 

“You're still good for Movie Night tonight right?” Keith asked, dropping his arm to the shorter boy’s waist and pulling him close as they started their way out of the hangar.

 

“Keith, we’ve been together for two months now, and not once have I cancelled on you. Why would I skip out on cuddles and movies with my awesome boyfriend?” Lance laughed lightly.

 

“Just checking, just checking,” The Galran chuckled, placing a light kiss on his boyfriend’s hair.

 

“Good job today Lance.” Krolia, who had been waiting outside the hangar for them, smiled and ruffled the smaller boy’s hair. “I’m beginning to think you like him more than me, Mom.” Keith scoffed, but couldn't help but smile as Krolia pulled him into a hug and whispered in his ear. “You made a good choice with this one, Keith. He has a good heart.”

 

Keith nodded, smiling, before taking Lance’s hand in his.

 

“Keith, Lance!” Shiro jogged up to them. “Good work today! Your fighting styles really compliment each other.”

 

“Shiro. Shiro. _Shiro_ . What did you _do_?!” Lance shrieked, covering his eyes from the monstrosity that was Shiro’s hair.

 

“What? don’t you like it?” The retired Paladin asked innocently.

 

“Its.. Pink..” Keith frowned. “You hate pink.”

 

Shiro pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Pink a perfectly valid- yeah.. I lost a bet with Pidge.”

 

“I don't want to talk about it,” Shiro grumbled, his face flushing as Lance opened his mouth to ask a question.

 

“How many times do you have to lose a bet with Pidge before you realise betting with her is a bad idea?” Keith wheezed, struggling to calm himself at the look of rage on Shiro’s face.

 

“Have fun with your hair, Shiro.” The White Paladin snickered, pulling his boyfriend away.

 

“I’m really glad the team’s all together again. It was a mess while you were gone,” The Altean smiled fondly up at Keith.

 

“We weren’t doing that great while you were away, either.” Keith gently pulled Lance into an embrace. “But I’d do it 1000 times over for what we have now.”

 

“Me too...You were right, by the way.” Lance said, his voice slightly muffled by the Galran’s chest as he returned the embrace. “Things really did work themselves out.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone!! 
> 
>  
> 
> My Tumblr: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/
> 
> Mj's Tumblr: https://sugar-spice-and-witches.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: http://sakchitoots.tumblr.com/
> 
> Mj's tumblr: https://sugar-spice-and-witches.tumblr.com/


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